£240,000 supercasino gamble

MANCHESTER has spent nearly £240,000 of council taxpayers' money on its supercasino bid, the M.E.N. can reveal. The figure includes months of painstaking research into the potential social and economic impact of the Las Vegas-style gambling mecca, planned for a site in a deprived part of east Manchester.

MANCHESTER has spent nearly £240,000 of council taxpayers' money on its supercasino bid, the M.E.N. can reveal.

The figure includes months of painstaking research into the potential social and economic impact of the Las Vegas-style gambling mecca, planned for a site in a deprived part of east Manchester.

The bid appeared to have paid off when Manchester was selected by an independent panel to host Britain's first supercasino.

But since then sources close to Gordon Brown have indicated the project is `dead in the water'.The new Prime Minister - who is known to be less keen on relaxing gambling laws than his predecessor, Tony Blair - announced he wanted `a period of reflection' to determine if there were better ways of regenerating the area.

Council chiefs are demanding the government provide an equally lucrative alternative if the supercasino is scrapped.

The project, which included luxury hotels and leisure facilities as well as a casino with more than 1,000 unlimited-jackpot slot machines, was expected to be worth £265m and to create 2,700 jobs.

Preparation

The M.E.N. can reveal the cost of winning the supercasino race was £238,000. This included preparation and presentation of the bid, plus £50,000 spent commissioning a consultants' report to prove Manchester would benefit from the project just as much as its coastal rival, Blackpool.

A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport confirmed there were no plans to reimburse councils that submitted bids for the supercasino.

He added that there was still `no timetable' for a final announcement on whether the project was to be officially scrapped.

Simon Ashley, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats on the city council, said: "I think spending £238,000 to lever in £265m is money well spent.

"However, that money is money down the drain if Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown continues to think the bid is `dead in the water'.

"If Gordon Brown has a moral objection to a casino development then so be it, but he also has a moral obligation to the people of Manchester to replace the £265m worth of investment they are losing because of his actions."

Sir Richard Leese, Labour leader of the council, has said the supercasino is still 'on the table' following discussions with senior ministers.